Chapter Nine

Elsa pulled Anna along, shutting each door they passes behind them, keeping as many barriers between Anna and the dragon…. Stormfly… as possible.

Even though the dragon did not fire.

Even though the dragon backed away. And nodded to her.

Still, Anna was her little sister.

Only when they finally reached Anna's room did Elsa stop. She turned on the lights and swept the room, checking and double-checking the shadows before finally coming back to the door. "Please, stay in here tonight. And bar your bedroom door."

Elsa turned to leave but Anna caught her hand and pulled her back. "Why, Elsa? What's wrong?"

Should she tell Anna about her nighttime visitor? Wouldn't that just worry her? Yes, it would worry her.

"I can see you thinking, Elsa, you have the same frown mother always had when contemplating something." Anna pulled Elsa deeper into her room and shut the door behind them.

One more barrier at least.

She lead Elsa to the bed and pulled her down onto it, sitting close to each other as sisters will when sharing a secret. "You can tell me, Elsa. Please."

Elsa looked away, looked at Anna's dresser, at the dress she wore during her proposal hanging there. Icicle, the miniature dragon, cooed. Didn't Anna have enough to think about?

But Anna took Elsa's hand, drawing her gaze, and said, "Please, sister, tell me what's up. Maybe I can help."

Elsa sighed. One more thing to worry her, then, it seems. "Astrid, the barbarian, visited me in my bedchambers tonight."

Anna gasped. "What? Did she hurt you?" Anna squeezed her hand, eyes flitting from Elsa's head to her neck, shoulders, arms, searching for some imaginary wound.

"No, Anna. She didn't hurt me." Elsa squeezed her hand back, and Anna's gaze lifted. "She just wanted to… talk."

Anna leaned back and the dragon slipped off her shoulders and flopped onto the bed with a huff. "In the middle of the night? Where were the guards? What happened to our security?"

Elsa swallowed a lump in her throat. She hated seeing Anna worry. "She got past them."

Anna shook her head, her neck reddened and her voice rose. "Past the guards? Did we post more on her? We should lock her up in chains for doing that."

"She was in chains."

Anna's cheeks whitened. "She got out of her chains…. And got past the guards…. And went to see you in the middle of the night without anyone noticing?"

Elsa took a breath and let it go. Of course Anna would be worried. "Yes."

Anna arched an eyebrow. "But she didn't hurt you?"

"No."

"She didn't threaten you in any way?"

Elsa thought back. Well Astrid did grab her. Hold her close. Astrid could have hurt her quite badly. Could have killed her in fact. But she hadn't. She let her go. Elsa shook her head. "No, she didn't threaten me. Not really, anyway."

Anna gathered up the covers from her bed and draped them around her own shoulders, pulling tight as if the room had suddenly gotten colder. But Elsa hadn't done anything. She cocked her head to the side in an unspoken question. Anna pulled the blanket tighter around herself, a smile forming on her lips.

"What?" Elsa asked.

Finally, Anna spoke. "I think our prisoner likes you."

"Anna." Elsa sighed, but heat crept up her neck, rising to her ears. She summoned her powers and chilled her skin, pushing the redness away. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Well, she did come to you in the middle of the night and want to talk. It would've been the perfect opportunity to one-up you." Anna didn't have to say 'kill you' but both knew that's what she meant. "She could've done it, slipped outside, gotten her dragon, and flew away. Instead, she talked to you, then let herself be captured again and thrown into our dungeon. She likes you."

She likes you. The phrase rolled around in Elsa's head for far too long. And, in spite of herself, she liked it. The burn grew hotter, ebbing her powers away. Elsa blinked, she couldn't possibly let herself think like this. Coughing to cover up the passing time, she said, "She didn't let herself be captured. I called the guards and they took her away."

Anna's grin widened. "But she had gotten past the guards before."

Please don't see me blushing. Damn the heat on my cheeks. Elsa stood, trying to cover the heat creeping up her cheeks by turning away from her little sister. "Don't be silly, Anna. There were four guards. Astrid just wanted to talk. And don't be so starry-eyed about this, the prisoner had escaped. In our home. She could have done terrible things. And all you're wondering is if the woman likes me or not. Stop being silly."

"But—"

Elsa moved towards the door, determinedly not looking at her sister. "Anna, go to bed. Stay in here. Lock the doors behind me and don't come out until morning. This… barbarian can't be trusted and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Elsa—"

Elsa slipped out into the hallway and shut the door behind her. She couldn't bare to hear what her sister had to say. Astrid liking her. Of all the crazy things her little sister could come up with, that had to be the wildest. They had only known each other for a few days, after all.

[Astrid's Section]

Astrid woke with a start. A knock sounded on the door, clanging throughout her little cell.

"Are you decent?" A voice said through the metal.

Elsa.

Astrid threw off the covers and sat up, swinging her legs to the side. Cold permeated her socks and sent a tingle up her spine. She had taken off her boots the night before, they sat in the far corner of the cell, next to the window. Astrid shivered and glanced down, only then remembering her antics from the night before. How she slipped out of her cell, took down the guards, and took off her armor in order to see the Queen.

It was far colder in this room in just her tunic and pants. She threw the covers over her shoulders.

"Yes, I'm decent," she replied.

The door opened and Elsa slipped inside, holding a tray with a spoon and a covered dish on it. She walked directly to Astrid and placed the tray onto the bed, then stood by the wall. She clasped her hands in front of her like before but kept her eyes trained on Astrid.

Astrid's heart thudded in her chest. Did she actually like this Queen? This woman who locked her in a cell, who locked her dragon in a cage, and who wouldn't let either of them go? She should loath the woman.

But, again, the chill of Elsa's skin surfaced in Astrid's mind. Of how lovely it felt.

"Eat," Elsa said in a formal tone, snapping Astrid from her thoughts. "You must be hungry."

Astrid's stomach growled. She lifted the cover and sighed as a waft of hot oats and berries drifted toward her. "Thank you."

Elsa nodded. "Before it gets cold, then."

Astrid smiled. Elsa certainly seemed less fidgety today. Astrid dug into the steaming food, not caring that the berries burned her tongue. Would the Queen begin the conversation today? If Elsa did not, would she?

As if on cue, Elsa took a deep breath then said, "Your dragon had breakfast as well. Though it seemed much more reluctant to eat than you seem to be."

"She," Astrid corrected. "Stormfly is a girl."

Elsa nodded. "Well, I visited… her… last night, after our… conversation."

Astrid smiled into her oats. While it seemed like Elsa was trying to be more in control, she still seemed nervous. But why in the world would the Queen be nervous around her? Because of their… conversation... last night? Perhaps. For now, at least they were talking. Hiccup would've been proud, but she had to keep the conversation going.

Astrid lifted her gaze and tilted her head towards the window. "I saw you."

Elsa glanced at the window then stared at Astrid. "Yes, well, I made sure she had enough food and water."

"And…" Astrid pressed. Surely the Queen would bring up the fact that Stormfly didn't attack the brunette. That had to be in her favor.

Elsa frowned, her tone became even more formal. "I'm sure you saw the incident with my sister. It's good that your dragon let her go."

Astrid, finished with her meal, set the spoon down. "Because you asked her right? You asked Stormfly not to hurt your sister."

A flash of recognition went through Elsa's eyes. So, she had spoken to the dragon. Elsa kept her place by the wall, but she leaned slightly forward. "I did ask her to spare Anna's life. And your dragon seemed to… she seemed to understand me."

Astrid tried not to stare at the Queen for too long, but, when Elsa leaned forward, a lock of hair fell out of her bun and caressed her cheek. Astrid's stomach clenched. But why? Was she actually jealous of a lock of hair? "That's because she can understand you. She understands human speech."

Elsa unclasped her hands and she tilted her head. The lock of hair brushed her lips. "Fully?"

Astrid swallowed. Yes. She was actually jealous of that blasted strand of hair. Curse the gods, she was attracted to the Queen!

She forced herself to look away. "Maybe not to the full extent like we do, but they can understand the tones and pitches in our voice, and certain words. Most dragons understand their names. And can distinguish their rider's voice from everyone else, even in a crowd of people."

Elsa moved closer to her. "They seem quite intelligent."

"They are," Astrid replied. "I've known Stormfly for almost four years now. She was the dragon I trained with."

Elsa pushed that blasted lock of hair behind her ear. She seemed much more interested in the conversation now. Even her voice had lost that formal edge. "So, you and her trained together. For battle?"

Astrid looked to the ground. How would she explain this without sounding horrible? "No, originally we weren't dragon riders, we were hunters of dragons. Dragon killers. I fought her in my training to become a dragon killer."

Well, that didn't sound so horrible. Except for the fighting Stormfly part. And, well, telling the truth was what Hiccup would've done. Curse him for instilling such morals in her.

But then Elsa gasped. Astrid glanced up at her. The Queen held a hand over her mouth, then seemed to think better of it and lowered her hand. "You… you're dragon killers?"

Nodding, Astrid replied, "We used to be. Before we knew we could ride them."

Elsa sat down on the other end of the bed. Heart crashing, Astrid pressed a hand to her chest. Surely the Queen could hear it.

Elsa shifted, a portion of her dress sparkled in a sunbeam that filtered through the window. Astrid trained her eyes back up to the Queen's face, where bright blue eyes stared back at her, questioning.

"And how did you ever get from fighting them to riding them?" Elsa asked. "It seems like too big of a jump to comprehend."

Astrid shifted, too, trying to get comfortable. It would be impossible on this hard bed. But, then again, it would be impossible for Astrid to ever be comfortable again with the Queen sitting so close.

She tried to recant Hiccup's adventure, but storytelling was never her strongest suit. "One of our fighters decided to try something different. He had a soft heart and didn't think that killing the dragons was the answer. He was the first to capture a Night Fury, the first to ride a dragon. He showed us that the dragons were friendly. We helped the dragons defeat one of their own, one who had been forcing our dragons to take care of it. Now everyone in Berk rides dragons."

She frowned. It was such a pitiful telling of his story. Hiccup told it much better. The idiot.

But Elsa scooted closer, so close their knees touched. A chill settled on Astrid's knee and her breath caught in her throat. She could swear her skin tingled, sparked like a Skrill bearing down for a fight. Just because of the Queen's closeness.

Yes. She definitely had it bad for Elsa.

Again, Elsa's words snapped Astrid out of her thoughts. "There are more dragons? Other kinds?"

"Sure," Astrid replied. "Hundreds of them."

Elsa beamed, her cheeks red with excitement, and leaned closer, like they were sharing a secret. "Tell me about them."

When Elsa slipped out of Astrid's cell she could hardly believe how much time had passed. The guards had stopped their conversation with a rap on the door, claiming it was lunchtime. Lunchtime! How could time slip by so quickly?

Their conversation had been an easy back and forth. Too easy. Elsa put her hand to her cheek, feeling the warmth there. Hopefully Astrid had not noticed how the blush had spread to her cheeks during that initial contact.

Their knees touched.

And when that happened, heat seemed to spread from that small contact to every limb in her body. It felt good, no, it felt wonderful. But Elsa rolled her eyes. Was she a schoolchild?

Astrid, at least, seemed too far away in her own world to notice it, at least that how she looked with her eyes glazed over. It seemed their contact didn't bother Astrid as much as it… bothered… her.

The Council would want to know what she discovered during her interrogation. They would want to know about the other dragons, Berk, the other villagers there, how they used to be a warring village and now they were peaceful. How they rode dragons. How they would be willing to teach her people. How they would be willing to trade. How they weren't dangerous.

How Astrid wasn't dangerous.

She would leave out their contact, though. And hopefully the Council hadn't heard of last night's antics. Starting up a trade agreement with a people they just met, and one that attacked them no less, take a long time. Hashing out why this "barbarian" broke out of her cell to talk to her in the middle of the night would make the process all the more complicated. Even though they did really just talk.

Elsa had been gone for a long time. So long in fact that dinner arrived and the sun sank under the horizon. Cold permeated the cell, but, this time, Astrid didn't mind. The cold reminded her of Elsa.

They had spoken for a long while, and, right before Elsa left, she promised she would speak to her council about letting her go. About letting Stormfly go. About setting up a treaty with the village of Berk. Even so early in the interrogation, she seemed eager to have a new trading partner. But Astrid knew it would take time to set these things up, they would have to learn much more about each other before signing anything.

And she would have to be let out of this cell first.

Still, she didn't mind the quiet for now. The solidarity. The darkness. It let her prod at the feelings she had been experiencing when the Queen sat next to her. It let her explore the excitement of that simple contact. The tension coiling in her muscles from that chill on her skin, the sparks spreading across her leg and thigh. Elsa's smile surfaced in her mind. That lock of hair caressing her cheek. What it would feel like to caress that cheek?

Astrid remembered when she had grabbed Elsa's wrist before being taken away by the guards. If the Queen's wrist felt so cold, what would her hands feel like? What about her lips…her neck…

No, Astrid didn't mind the darkness at all. It let her lean back onto the bed, slip a hand in between her legs, and break the tension coiling in her soul.

SQ: Yup, it's been awhile. Grad school, editing, Write to Publish conference, life... why must everything take up so much of my time?

Regardless, thank you to those who have stuck with me thus far and thank you to all the newcomers, the followers, and favorites; it's great to see this story is well liked. Please remember to comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time!